Porsche Singapore Classic
After a week off, the DP World Tour returns to action this week to start a multiweek swing through Asia, beginning with the Porsche Singapore Classic.
Shane Lowry (9-1) had two top-4 finishes before last week’s top-20 at The Players and heads up the odds board this week.
Matthieu Pavon (14-1) was sixth here last year and makes his return to the DP World Tour after winning the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this season on the PGA Tour.
Paul Casey (14-1) lost in a playoff two weeks ago at LIV Hong Kong but has two top-5s in his last three LIV events.
After two weeks over in Florida playing on the PGA Tour, Rasmus Højgaard (16-1) returns to the DP World Tour where he has not finished outside of the top 11 in five events this season including three top-10 finishes.
The Event
The Porsche Singapore Classic became a regular event on the DP World Tour last year.
Ockie Strydom won the inaugural event, shooting a final-round 63 to beat Sami Välimäki by one shot.
In January 2024, it was confirmed that Porsche would become the title sponsor for the 2024 event onward.
Last year’s inaugural staging of the tournament created mild controversy as it was the first time that the European Tour had staged a tournament in the Southeast Asian region without co-sanctioning the event with the Asian Tour. This was mainly due to the European Tour and Asian Tour’s partnership having ended due to the European Tour siding with the PGA Tour and the Asian Tour siding with LIV Golf.
The Course
There are two courses at the Laguna National resort in Singapore, the Masters Course — which hosted the Singapore Open on the European Tour as was until 2007, then the Championship at Laguna National in 2014 — and the Classic Course, which is our venue for this week’s event.
While this track is dubbed “The Beast,” post-monsoon conditions last year tamed the beast, providing the soft conditions that led to a winning score of 19 under par.
The course is hilly and stretches out 7,420 yards from its tips and it will play as a par-72 this week with the back nine considerably longer than the front. The front nine goes out in par 35 at 3,489 yards and the back nine is a par-37 coming in at 3,931 yards.
The rough tends to be thick and penal here and five imposing lakes and water features are ready to gobble up any poor shots, however, the fairways are quite generous and in general this is best described as a second-shot course.
Recent History
2023: Ockie Strydom (-19/269); 400-1
Selections
Paul Casey (14-1, BetMGM)
Two weeks ago, Casey ranked first in GIR and second in Scrambling in Hong Kong, where he shot 64 on Sunday to reach the playoff before falling to Abraham Ancer.
He has won in Asia several times in his career, including in China and South Korea.
Rasmus Højgaard (16-1, BetMGM)
This could be a drop in class for Rasmus as he has been competing on the PGA Tour for the last couple of weeks.
Before those two finishes (49-MC) down the board, Rasmus had a form line of 6-8-2 before he traveled stateside.
Alejandro del Rey (45-1, BetMGM)
The Spaniard was third here last year.
He is one of the bigger hitters off the tee on the DPWT, ranking third for Driving Distance.
Bernd Wiesberger (50-1, Caesars Sportsbook)
Wiesberger has played solid in his 2024 return to the DPWT with finishes of 16-37-21.
His work around the greens in those events has been exemplary as he ranked first in Strokes Gained: Around The Green in Bahrain and seventh in Ras al Khaimah.
Frederic LaCroix (60-1, Bet365)
LaCroix finished 2023 with back-to-back top-20s in South Africa and continued that form with a third in Ras al Khaimah and fourth in Bahrain.
The Frenchman ranks 10th for Strokes Gained: Approach and 14th for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee on the season.
Ugo Coussaud (80-1, BetMGM)
Rookie Frenchman Coussaud has ranked seventh, first and second for Strokes Gained: Around The Green in his last three starts.
Placement markets, matchups, and any other futures will be available Wednesday afternoon at VSiN.com/picks
